Some more jobs could be coming to Cadiz next year, as Lafayette, Ill.-based Wabash National Corporation announced last Tuesday that its wholly owned subsidiary, Transcraft Corporation, has agreed to sell its production facility in Anna, Ill., and consolidate its operations into its Cadiz facility.

A news release on Wabash website said platform production at the Anna plant will cease during the first half of 2010, after which the new production lines at the Cadiz production facility will be fully operational.

“These types of decisions are always difficult to make, especially when it affects associates, but due to the current economic climate, we are faced with the need to further right size our operating footprint and reduce our cost structure,” said Transcraft Corporation General Manager Terry Campbell.

Allison Henk, marketing communications manager for Wabash, said that although the Anna plant currently employs about 75 people, she didn’t know how many jobs the consolidation will be bring to Cadiz.

“It all depends on economic conditions and the demand for trailers,” Henk said, reiterating that the decision to close the plant in Anna was primarily due to economic conditions.

Due to the use of excess manufacturing equipment, it is expected that the transition to production should be seamless, and shouldn’t have any impact on customers, said Campbell.

The release also said that Transcraft, a manufacturer of flatbed, drop deck, dump trailers and truck bodies, plans to sell the Anna, Ill., facility to Rusty Flamm, a prominent businessman who owns a Lumberyard and home center business and Anna and Vienna, Ill.

“This will complete the consolidation process of the company’s platform business, which began in October 2007 with the closure of the Mt. Sterling, Ky., plant,” said Wabash National President and Chief Executive Officer Dick Diromini.

Transcraft will consolidate production of all product lines from two production lines to one in Cadiz, which will also serve as its corporate headquarters, according to the press release.

Trigg County Judge Executive Stan Humphries said he was excited about the prospect of more jobs coming into the area, and added that he hopes that it will be the start of more job growth.

Humphries also cited the “state of the art” Transcraft facility and the availability of good workers in the county as probable factors in Wabash’s recent decision.